The British writer Samantha Harvey was awarded this Tuesday with the Booker Prize, the most prestigious in English-speaking fiction literature, thanks to her novel ‘Orbital’, in which she narrates the conversations and thoughts of six astronauts on the International Space Station. .
Harvey, who was surprised and excited upon receiving the award, admitted feeling “overwhelmed” by the size of the award.
“What we do to the Earth we do to ourselves. This award is dedicated to those who speak on behalf of, and not against, the Earth; and to those who speak on behalf of, and not against, the dignity of others,” he said in his acceptance speech. With her victory, Harvey becomes the first woman since 2019 to win the Booker, winning among six finalists, only one of whom was a man.
With its 136 pages, ‘Orbital’ is the second shortest book, after ‘Offshore’, by Penelope Fitzgerald, in 1979, to win this prize worth 50,000 pounds.
The novel explores the reflections about life on Earth of six astronauts on the International Space Station over 24 hours, in which they orbit the planet 16 times.
During that time they will have to deal with the death of a loved one, the arrival of a typhoon and the fragility of human life.
The president of the jury, the writer and artist Edmund de Waal, explained that they looked for a book that “had breadth and resonance” and that they were “compelled to share.”
“Samantha Harvey has written a novel propelled by the beauty of 16 Sunrises and 16 Twilights. “Everyone and no one is the topic, as six astronauts circle the Earth watching the weather unfold across the fragility of borders and time zones,” De Waal said.
Harvey, who had already entered the list of nominees for this award in 2009 with ‘The Wilderness’, thus becomes the nineteenth to win the Booker, by 36 men.
Other nominees in this edition, after Irishman Paul Lynch won the award last year with ‘Prophet song’, were Rachel Kushner, Anne Michaels and Percival Everett.
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